At Carson City rally, parents make it clear: They demand educational choice

For Immediate Release
Contact Michael Schaus
702-222-0642; 303-570-8052 (Cell)

CARSON CITY, NV — Hundreds of parents are heading to Nevada’s capitol this week, to dramatize their support for National School Choice Week.

In anticipation of the rally being held on Wednesday in Carson City, Nevada Policy Research Institute Communications Director Michael Schaus issued the following statement:

The support parents have shown for these Silver State events — not to mention the overwhelming support we’ve seen demonstrated by the more than 8,000 parents who’ve signed up for Education Savings Accounts — should send a clear signal to lawmakers ahead of the 2017 legislative session:

Parents want real choice.

For decades, politicians have used the public education system to pander to its special interests and, with that support, get themselves re-elected. But these political games have come at a great cost to all Nevadans: parents, taxpayers and — most importantly — our youth.

It’s time we empower families, rather than a chronically underperforming system, to pursue the best education possible for our future generations. It’s time Nevada’s Legislature keeps the promise it made to Nevada families in 2015, when it passed the most sweeping and inclusive educational choice program in nation: Education Savings Accounts.

However, these rallies aren’t only about Nevada’s appetite for ESAs. They speak about all choice — including charter schools, homeschooling and tax scholarships. After all, for parents, school choice isn’t really about state budgets, political infighting or the horse-trading done by lobbyists in Carson City. Parents care about one thing: Their child’s future.

That’s what school choice, of any kind, is all about.

###